Your Turn – March 10, 2011

San Antonio Express-News

Updated 12:01 am, Thursday, March 10, 2011

Honoring our veterans

On Feb. 28, Frank Buckles, the last U.S. veteran of World War I, died at the age of 110.

While approximately 1.9 million World War II vets are still alive, we’re losing more than 1,000 of them a day. That’s why Alamo Honor Flight has embarked on a mission to fly as many San Antonio-area World War II veterans as possible to visit the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., at no charge.

With the help of companies and groups including the AT&T Pioneers, Southwest Airlines, VITAS Innovative Hospice Care and many individual donors, Alamo Honor Flight flew 60 veterans to Washington in 2010, its first year of operation. In April, we’ll take 40 more vets to D.C.

Our goal is to help all WW II veterans from Bexar and area counties visit their memorial. Thanks to all who have helped our mission, and I invite others to join. Time is running short.

This letter blamed Democrats for America’s energy problems and said Democrats must hate the concept of profit.

The letter epitomized the sorry state of political discourse. It’s all about vitriol, and demonizing the other side. There’s little civil discussion and no acknowledgement your opponent may love our country as much as you do, and be as intelligent as you are.

The idea that Democrats hate profit is absurd. Millions of them are involved in private enterprise and, I assure you, they appreciate profit.

What we don’t agree with is the idea that profits must be maximized and pursued at all cost and to the exclusion of any other consideration. Democrats support fair trade, safety of our food supply and an array of environmental issues. Reasonable regulations on business and industry, to ensure that Earth continues to be habitable for all species, is, to most thoughtful people, a worthy endeavor.

— Michael Veal

Military’s real mission

Re: “Don’t knock Israel” (Letters, March 2):

I couldn’t agree more with Col. Frye’s comments. Our great leaders seem to have forgotten what the military’s mission is. It’s not to build schools and hospitals nor is it to teach democracy or our way of life to people who have no sense of trying to live in a world with others.

As I see it, the military’s mission is to rain death and destruction on countries that believe the U.S. has become a weak, liberal and greedy bunch of bureaucrats whose interests are self-serving only.

Aren’t our “neighbors” sitting on a hill overlooking our backyard now? Curtis LeMay, George Patton and Chesty Puller, where are you now that we need you?

— Bob Ingram

Stand up, women!

I have never felt disenfranchised until recently when I read what our Texas Legislative supermajority nincompoops are aiming to accomplish in their legislative session. At least we now know who the economic enemy is in Texas. It’s women!

First, a bill to help women think before they go out and buy an abortion. What incredible thoughtfulness. They must worry about how small the minds of pregnant girls are that they didn’t think there was a baby inside. Are the lawmakers going to pay for the sonogram? And making an abortion a multiday affair, so that those who have children or jobs or live away from an abortion center can opt out more easily — so supportive!

Next, by not funding the Texas Women’s Health Program, a program that actually might prevent unwanted children by providing reproductive health care and birth control, there will be more unwanted children, although they will not have an easy life because access to food, health care or early childhood development is off the table if this legislature gets its way.

Women, have some guts to stand up for your sisters! Do you need your Legislature telling you how to access a legal procedure?

One approach to help fix the state’s budget shortfall might be to reduce the size of the Legislature. Do we really need 31 senators and 150 representatives, and their attendant staffs, to make policy? Like cooking, too many cooks spoil the soup.

I’m sorry Joseph Dunwoody (Letters, March 2) detects anti-intellectualism from those of us who feel NPR and PBS are left-leaning. I’m also glad he enjoys the engrossing interviews and programming. However, left-leaning or not, neither NPR nor PBS should be government-funded as it’s not the taxpayers job to provide my entertainment.

Dunwoody advocates repealing the tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent to keep the funding. Here’s a novel idea that’s hard for a liberal to wrap his mind around: If you enjoy certain programming, how about paying for it yourself? I enjoy the Golf Channel. Would you like to pick up the tab for me?

— Charles Marino

Workers get shafted

It was the greedy financial institutions and corporations that brought us to the brink of a depression. But now the Republicans have declared war on working Americans. Although workers in Wisconsin and Ohio have agreed to contribute more to their pensions and health care, Govs. Walker and Kasich insist on stripping their collective bargaining rights and are using dictatorial tactics to achieve their goal.

House Speaker John Boehner has also shown contempt for workers, declaring that if his budget cuts result in thousands of jobs lost, so be it.

Meanwhile, Boehner fiercely protects tax cuts for corporations and subsidies for oil companies. Working families are already contributing their share. Boehner’s buddies need to as well.

Here’s a morale booster for all the white plantation types, land-grabbing carpetbaggers, thieves, misfits and all-around hooligans: According to demographers and sociologists, in the not-too-distant future, Hispanics will be the majority population in the U.S.

That means these folks will eventually reclaim most of the land stolen from Mexico without firing a shot. Time to brush up on your Español, compadres. Is this a great country or what?!

I recently had the honor of riding with a San Antonio police officer on his shift. While I always had respect for law officers, this experience gave me a whole new insight into the everyday work of police officers. I am awed by the job these men and women perform with professionalism, patience and courtesy.

Each call they answer is different in complexity. They never know if they’ll go home after their shift ends. Any call can be the last one. Next time you see a police officer, thank him/her for an often thankless job.